Strength
by Karu-DarkAngel
Summary: The first thing Naruto noticed was the smell of fire in the air. It only went downhill from there.  plays after the 4th Ninja War


**A/N:** This story takes place about two years after the Fourth Ninja World War. Tobi is dead (and I mean **dead**, as in Voldemort at the end of Deathly Hallows dead), the Eye of the Moon Plan failed and the nations live in peace (for now). There isn't much else to be said... a glossary of most Japanese words I used is down below to avoid language confusion. Enjoy.

**Warning:** some people are dead, swearing by Naruto, mentions of violence

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><p>...<p>

**Strength**

...

The first thing Naruto noticed was the smell of fire in the air. He was currently in the middle of Konoha's forest, surrounded by miles of trees in every direction. It was only early spring and he highly doubted that there was a forest fire going on nearby – even in fire country it was still too cold for a fire to hit without meddling from humans. Somebody was lighting a fire, and it wasn't a small one either. The blonde could smell the stench even without seeing smoke and when he finally did his assumption was confirmed – there was a big, grayish black cloud of smoke hanging over the trees somewhere southeast from his position.

He changed his path immediately, not quite sure why he did. Yes, someone had most likely set the woods on fire over there but it was still none of his business – and over the last two years Naruto had learned to not meddle in other people's business the hard way. It would have probably been the best if he had remained on his course for Konohagakure, but Naruto couldn't cast off the uneasiness that had settled over him. His senses screamed that something wasn't right with this fire; the feeling sent chills down his spine. He may have learned not to interfere in others business, but he was still Naruto Uzumaki – and Naruto Uzumaki always did what his gut instincts told him.

It was when he approached the scene of the fire that the bad feeling in his gut turned into a sickening one. His heightened senses told him the most important part of the story before he could actually see it – there was the smell of blood in the air. People had bled to death not far away, many of them. Their blood was still fresh, the massacre must have happened mere hours ago.

Naruto slowed down his sprint through the trees and jumped down on the ground to get a better look at the scene.

There was a huge fire burning in the middle of a small clearing, burning higher than most two-store buildings in Konoha were. An enormous heat emitted from the bonfire, making the leaves of the trees standing nearby shrivel. The whole clearing was bathed in a flickering orange light, illuminating the dark forest floor below his feat – that was when he realized that about the whole ground around the clearing soaked with blood. The blonde felt like he was in a bad horror movie – on of the kind that made you wake up screaming and soaked in sweat.

Walking closer to the fire, Naruto noticed that there was someone cowering at the ground at the border of the clearing. The figure was clad in a black cloak and did not move – he wouldn't have been able to say if the person was still alive if it hadn't been for his fox-gained senses.

Concerned he stepped closer, intending to say something, ask the person what had happened… that was when he noticed the finer shades of the smell the stench of blood had covered until now. His nostrils flattered, disbelieving – he had to be wrong because there was simply no way… never... it wasn't possible… not she, not she as well…

"She said you would be coming, Hokage-sama. She told me to wait for you." the hooded figure suddenly said, rising from the ground and clearing the way for him to see the woman lying on the forest floor motionless. She was dead – he knew without having to look at her, but it still felt like his heart was pierced by a dagger when Naruto laid eyes onto Tsunade's body.

The black figure turned around and his blue eyes looked with black ones that were hidden behind a dark brown and golden mask. This was no ANBU, that he knew from the start – the mask looked more like the one Haku had worn back in Kirigakure than the ones Konoha's elite ninja used.

"What happened?" his voice was hoarse with emotion.

"It was an ambush. We were on our way back from a border-meeting with some representatives of Iwagakure. It was two dozen of them and only four of us… Someone betrayed us, the mission was top secret." the masked ninja told him.

Naruto looked around the bonfire, noticing the dark spots in the grass where the bodies of the fallen ninja had been located. There were many spots, some of them bigger than others.

"How did they die?"

Naruto honestly didn't know why he asked the question. It didn't matter who slayed who. In the end the outcome was the same – they were dead, all of them. Tsunade had died and he hadn't been there to protect her from the ambush.

"Karasu and Byakko both took out five of them. Karasu was hit in the chest by several explosion tags at once, there was nothing we could do for him. Tsunade took out seven – they got her when she was trying to heal the cut on Byakkos throat. I was just a second too late." the elite ninja retold unmoving, her voice clinical.

If it hadn't been for her smell Naruto would have had a very hard time telling if the person before him was a man or a woman. Her body was well-hidden behind the black cloak, her movements nothing short of accurate and her voice was as genderless as the teachers at the academy had always told them an elite ninja should sound. Standing in front of the blonde was a trained killer and that was all he needed to know to know that their enemies had been hand-picked and probably trained for this exact mission for years.

"Are you hurt, Fukumen-san?" he asked eventually since there had been no evidence of an injury in her movements.

"My left forearm is broken, I have three broken and four partially fractured ribs, a stab wound in the right thigh that Tsunade particularly was able to heal, my right ankle is sprained and I am positive that I have a slight concussion, Hokage-dono."

Naruto's eyes grew big, "By the kami, are you insane? You should have said something from the beginning. We need to get you back to Konoha, you have to get in the hospital. You could have internal bleeding for all I know, you could die!"

"Don't worry about me, Hokage-dono. I'm already dead." although he couldn't see her face the blonde understood from the way the woman was speaking that she was smiling. He really didn't get what she was talking about or why she was amused by his concern. The fact that she was calling him Hokage all the time didn't help matters either.

"Stop talking bullshit and sit down, I've to look after your wounds." he ordered. "And stop calling me Hokage, that's really unnerving."

To his astonishment the woman actually complied and sat down beside Tsunade's frame carefully. He followed her movement with his eyes when she took off her cloak and spread it over the former Hokage's dead body tenderly. It also didn't escape Naruto's notice that the blonde Sannin's hair and clothes were relatively clean, like somebody had cleaned them with caution.

"You don't have to look after me Rokudaime-sama, it is more important that _you_ get back to the village save." she answered, dark eyes fixating his, "And I'm afraid I can't stop calling you Hokage. I have to address my master with the proper title, Hokage-dono."

Naruto dropped into the grass beside the female ninja, not caring about the droplets of blood that were scattered around the ground. He motioned for her to stretch out her left arm and she did so without any sign of discomfort, but this time Naruto was more carefully. He obviously could not trust in the fact that she would show any signs of pain _at all_. The blonde sighed when he could not see any outer sign of injury – he didn't know anything about first aid… if only Sakura had been with him… if only this whole thing had never happened…

"I am not your master and I am _not_ the Hokage." he replied gruntingly.

"You are, Rokudaime-sama." she answered, withdrawing her arm. "Tsunade-sama named you as her successor. Your initiation will be held when we arrive back in Konohagakure."

Naruto stared at the crazy woman open-mouthed. She couldn't be serious, this was insane. Kakashi was next in line for Hokage, it came out three years ago when Tsunade nearly died after the attack of Pain. Danzō had been Hokage for a short time and Kakashi would have been next after his death if Tsunade hadn't recovered just in time to take her job back.

"You're crazy! Kakashi will be the next Hokage." he shouted frustrated. Why didn't she get it?

"Kakashi _was_ next in line." the masked woman corrected him, "Tsunade decided against him in her dying breath. She named you, Uzumaki Naruto, to be Rokudaime Hokage. I am her witness, she told me so I can tell the council."

Silence stretched between after her words.

Naruto tried to sort out his confused thoughts, but still couldn't gain a hold of what was happening at the moment. Tsunade had named him as the next Hokage? There was no reason to do so, she had Kakashi for the job. Why him? Why did she tell this mysterious woman that he was her successor? …he was eighteen dammit, who would trust him as Hokage? Something had royally gone wrong all of a sudden.

"Who are you?" he asked the woman more to keep his head from spinning than anything else.

She looked at him for moment without saying something and for the first time Naruto thought he saw some kind of emotion in her eyes. She looked genuinely sad.

"_I am Washi_, the eagle. I belong to the group of ninja called hunter-nin. I am- …I was Tsunade-samas personal guardian. I failed my master – if it wasn't for you I'd already be dead."

There was something final in her voice that deeply scared the blonde Jinchūriki. Somehow the dark haired woman sounded like she _wished_ to be dead. It reminded him of the time when no one had cared for him and he had thought that it didn't matter if he lived or died.

"Why do you want to die that hard?" he asked curiously.

"It was my duty to protect the Hokage. That was what I vowed, what I lived for. I failed the Hokage and no hunter-nin can fail and live." she explained slowly, "We either die in battle or draw our sword for _seppuku_ to relieve the Hokage from the disgrace we brought upon them… my Hokage died, I failed. Tsunade-sama is dead and the only thing that ties me to life is the last order she awarded me. _Washi is dead._"

She did not turn her eyes away when he caught her gaze and Naruto could see the sincerity behind her onyx eyes. He did not know about hunter-nin – the only time he had even heard of them had in fact been his brief encounter with Haku and Zabuza in the Rain Country six years ago. He did not know about their customs or what their usual duties were. There was only one thing he got his head around…

"You obey the Hokage and you said that I will be the Rokudaime. So you have to do as I say, right?" he wanted her to clarify.

The woman's body stiffened and she straightened herself, "Hai, Rokudaime-sama."

"Fine." Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I order you to not kill yourself. In fact I order you to avoid dying at all costs."

He grinned smugly when the woman looked at him dumbfounded. She clearly didn't expect him to order a command of that sort and the blonde of himself for hindering her from killing herself. Dying only because of some code about disgrace and honor was stupid – he was sure that Tsunade hadn't wanted her subordinate to kill herself after her death.

"I'm sorry Hokage-dono" she murmured suddenly, "but I cannot obey your order. I am Washi and my order was to protect Godaime Tsunade-samas life. I failed. My failure cannot be taken back – Washi has to die in order to atone for his sins."

Naruto blinked before he began to curse under his breath.

"Stupid rules!" he growled. "Okay… you say your name is Washi? Did Tsunade give you this name?"

The kunoichi only nodded.

"So… if I give you a new name you will no longer be Washi. That way Washi is gone, dead, right? …I can give you a new name, can I?"

"I…" the woman looked at him disbelieving, obviously searching for an error in his reasoning. Her mouth opened to say something but closed only a second later. Her mask had slipped enough for him to see her jaw bones working. "I am fairly certain this has never been done before, but yes, there is no rule that banes you from giving me a new name, Rokudaime-sama … your reasoning is correct."

A bright smile spread across Narutos features. He had managed to outsmart the old geezers and their stupid stiff rules once again and he was proud of the fact. The woman seemed okay after all and there was no reason for her to die. From the looks of her and her wounds he thought that she sure as hell had given her best – killing people because of rules like these was stupid.

"How do you wanna be called?" the blonde asked the kunoichi.

In return she starred at him, speechless, but recovered rather quickly.

"You are not supposed to ask me for my opinion, Rokudaime-sama." she answered honestly, "It has to be some kind of animal, though."

"Okay… but I don't know a name and I don't want to give you one that doesn't fit." he admitted, looking at her sheepishly, "Why did Tsunade call you Washi? There has to be a reason you were named _the eagle_."

"My main weapon is a sword and my fighting style is made up of many fast and fluid movements. Many people I met said that it actually looks very much like flying when I'm in a fight. The eagle is said to be the king of the sky therefore Tsunade named me Washi."

"That's not true." Naruto sputtered, shaking his head viciously, "The eagle is only a bird, it is never the king of the sky. Dragons are the kings of the sky obviously, they're really strong and majestic and no one can push them around. Plus you said one of the other Hinter-nins name was Byakko. So your new name will go with his: You're now _Seiryū, the dragon_. I think it fits you better, you're a bullhead anyway."

The woman said nothing in return but continued looking at him in silence, sending a shiver down Naruto's spine with the way her dark eyes surveyed him. He wondered briefly if all of the Hunter-nin were like that or if it was a thing only associated with the kunoichi across from him. Not even the ANBU he had meet (foremost Sai and Yamato) had been that uptight.

"I will need a new mask, Hokage-dono. The one I am currently wearing belongs to Washi and I am no longer Washi."

Naruto thought about her request for a moment.

"Do you need a complete new mask or has it only to look different? Because I don't carry masks around normally." he grinned at her, "I however have same paint from the last mission I was on. Will this be sufficient?"

She even got him to talk as formal as she did, the blonde realized. He had to stop talking like he had a stick in his ass, because usually he really hated people talking like that. Shaking his head he dropped his backpack and dug through it, searching for the two half full ink bottles he had left. He only listened with half an ear to her muttered "Hai", assuming that she would comply anyway.

Eventually he held one bottle in each hand, the right one red and the left one a dark blue. The Hunter-nins mask had two stripes – one was golden and the other brown. Naruto rather liked the golden one and decided to only recolor the brown one.

"Gimme your mask, I can't paint it when you have it on." he demanded, reaching for said item.

His new subordinate did – has she had done nearly always until now, to think of – what he wanted without any outer sign of protest. The kunoichi reached behind her head, untying the band that held the mask in place. She passed him the item carefully and when he grabbed it Naruto for the first time could see her face.

"You are a beautiful." he said slightly surprised.

"I am honored you think this way, Rokudaime-sama."

There was no sign of emotion on her face and to Naruto it somehow felt like she hadn't taken her mask off at all. Her feelings were still cautiously hidden behind a stoic façade and he came to the conclusion that he didn't like it. No one should look so _dead_ – it was creepy to say the least. He was careful not to shiver when he applied the blue paint over the brown one.

"Done." he looked down at his handiwork with a pleased smile, "Here, have it back. Thank the kami the paint dries that fast."

The dark haired elite ninja took her mask back but made no move to put it on. Instead she looked at him, onyx eyes staring at bright blue ones.

"I pledge my life to the Hokage and only him. The Hokage's orders are the law I will abide by. I will serve the Hokage till death. I will execute every mission the Hokage gives me. The day I fail will be the day I die in disgrace _if this is the Hokage's will_. I will raise my sword for seppuku to rid the Hokage of the shame I brought upon him. Because the honor of Hokage is my honor and there mustn't be any doubt about the Hokage's honor.

"I pledge my mind and body to the Hokage so that my blood will only be shed in his will. As of today I am a weapon to be used at Uzumaki Naruto Rokusaime-samas pleasure. _I am Seiry_ū_._"

Naruto blinked.

"What is that shit about?"

He didn't receive an answer, instead the Hunter-nin tied her newly repainted mask back around her head so that the only thing the blonde could clearly see of her were her eyes again.

Onyx eyes looked at him with something akin to sadness in them and Naruto didn't really understand why the emotion was suddenly back in her eyes. But the woman didn't explain herself either but kneeled down beside Tsunades dead beautiful body once again. One of the kunoichi's hands reached inside the bag at her side and she removed something the blonde couldn't see clearly. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly Tsunade's body was on fire, red and yellow flames devouring her motionless form.

"What are you doing?" Naruto tried to leap forward to extinguish the flames but was held back by a strong hand that wrapped around his wrist in a vice like grip and didn't let go even when he pulled with all his might. A strangled cry erupted from his throat and in the next second the black haired woman was flying through the air and crashed against a nearby tree with a low thud. His eyes once again fixated on the former Hokage but it was already too late, she was burning like dry leaves, her form already half vanished in the fire.

"Are you stupid? You burned her! She won't have a funeral, there will be no grave!" he shouted in frustration and pain, turning back to the hunter-nin who was slowly dragging herself up from the forest floor and said nothing in return.

He hadn't meant to hurt her, but his desire to save Tsunade's corpse had overwhelmed Naruto for a second. His blow had been intuitive and a ninja such has the woman opposite him should be able to block a hit simple as that – but some of her bones were already broken and it was probably hard for her to even move around. The blonde bit on his lip in frustration, anger and a good part of confusion. He felt tired, more mentally than physically, but still very tired. His plan had been to go home to Konoha, to meet Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei again after his long absence from home but somehow Tsunade had _died_ and somehow he was now Hokage…

"Hunter-nin leave no corpses, Hokage-dono." the hunter-nin explained slowly.

"But she was…" Naruto struggled for words, "She was Tsunade. She was your friend… wasn't she?"

"My orders were to leave no trace of what happened behind in case the mission went wrong." she answered once again in that voice which betrayed no emotion at all.

The blonde sighed. He wanted nothing more but to lie down and sleep, sleep and forget. But sleep was no option in his current position. He had to go home… go home and tell them that Tsunade was dead, that the Godaime had died and that he was her successor. Naruto didn't want to do it, to look in their faces when he told them…

"We have to get going, I'm afraid, Rokudaime-sama."

"I'll carry you; I can't let you walk around bruised like this." he said and walked towards the woman who backed away a little from his advances.

"I can walk. You have to save yourself, Rokudaime-sama." she explained but made no move at all to avoid contact when he grabbed her by her upper arm. It was like when he hit her a few minutes ago, there was absolutely no resistance in her stance. He had the surging suspicion that he could hit her again, full force this time, and that she wouldn't even try to evade his touch.

"Why don't you fight back?" he asked, curious.

The kunoichi's eyes widened in surprise at his question, "You _owe_ me, Hokage-dono. You tell me to kill myself and I do. There is no point in resisting you."

Naruto suppressed the urge to be angry with her. There were other times when he sure as hell would argue about that, but now simply wasn't the time. He was still tired, she was still hurt and they had to get home fast. There was always the possibility that there would be more enemies in a few minutes and he didn't want to encounter them.

"You will climb on my back and let me carry you back to the village. That's an order, Seiryū."

She moved faster than he had her anticipated to be able to and let him heave her on his back. The hunter-nin was lighter than he thought she would be and it was no problem at all for Naruto to move with her additional weight. Even the minimal power of the Kyūbi he was using now was enough to run back to Konohagakure with the kunoichi on his back. He made sure that her arms were secure around his neck before he leaped high into the trees, speeding towards his home once again.

~~x~~

Naruto slowed down his tempo when they were about half a mile short of the village's border. He needed additional time to order the chaos in his head. With a sudden jump be brought them down to the main road that led into the village.

"Do you want to get down?"

There was no answer for the longest time and the blonde almost thought she was asleep before he remembered that hunter-nin seemed to have all but no free will of their own. It was basically _his_ decision what the woman did and what she did not. The thought was very unnerving to him. Naruto wasn't used to ordering others around.

"You'll walk from now on. I don't want you to get out of my immediate sight and you will talk to no one but me, okay?" he tried to use the commando-thing as good as possible.

"Hai." she was down from his back before he could really register and walked beside him only a second later, still not showing any evidence of the wounds she claimed to have. He'd have Sakura check on her when they were inside the gates.

"What were you to Tsunade? You said you acted as her guardian, right?" Naruto asked, trying to gain some knowledge about his new servant – even thinking the word was hard.

The hunter-nin kept her silence for a minute before she answered, her tone not quite as cold as it had been some time ago. "Yes, I was Tsunade-samas guardian. I was her backup, the one who made sure that she was to survive no matter what happened. I was her living shield… I was her weapon… her servant, her confidant… her consultant, her friend, her lover… I was everything Tsunade wanted me to be."

Somehow Naruto wasn't as shocked at the answer as he could have been. It was probably because Seiryū – or whatever her name was – had been prepared to die for Tsunade's sake. She was devoted to the former Hokage in a way he couldn't quite grasp yet.

"Naruto!" They were in sight of the village's main gates by now and someone had obviously announced their – or rather his – arrival and Sakura was running in their direction, a big smile on her face and arms open to draw the blonde into a big hug. Naruto cracked a little smile of his own when he saw her approaching. He had missed her and Kakashi – heck he had even missed Sai.

The pink haired girl was barely in their range, making no motion to stop her run, when the hunter-nin beside him suddenly came to life. The dark haired woman's movements were faster than nearly everything he had seen before and she was able to draw her Katana before any of the other two had the chance to react to her actions. The blade missed Sakura's face by mere inches and the pink haired woman was only able to avoid it because she had been wary of the masked ninja from the very beginning. But the hunter-nin pursued the other kunoichi, a dead accuracy in the way she moved.

"Washi…" no reaction, the blade was too close to Sakura's neck for his liking, "Seiryū, stop!" She haltered without delay, the Katana's tip almost piercing the skin of his friend's throat.

A second later the hunter-nin was back by his side, sword still in hand, every muscle in her body tense and clearly ready to strike again as soon as he ordered her to continue. A shiver ran down Naruto's spine – this woman was his personal weapon indeed, and an extremely lethal one of that.

"Why did you do that?" he demanded to know, forgoing Sakura's presence for the moment.

Seiryū straightened. "She was too close too fast, Rokudaime-sama. She posed a threat to your health I couldn't tolerate. The risk of her hurting you was too high for me not to interfere."

There was no regret in her voice and her words made it clear to Naruto that the kunoichi would indeed have killed one of his best friend his he hadn't stopped her in time. He had to be more careful from now on.

"This is Sakura, she is no threat to me. You will _not_ attack her, hell I forbid you to attack _anyone_ in that village." he hurried to say.

"I'm afraid this is not possible, Hokage-dono. I have to kill a possible threat to your life before you get harmed. If a villager was to attack you with evil intend I would have to kill them …but the woman is off limits, I understand." his guardian declared smoothly.

Something about the way she said it made Naruto suspicious but he choose to not say anymore. There were already people looking at them from the gates and he didn't want to cause a scene before this whole Hokage-thing was completely clarified.

"Naruto, what is going on?" Sakura demanded to know, "Who is she and why the hell is she calling you Hokage?"

Naruto sighed; he already hated all of this. "It's complicated, Sakura-chan. I don't really know what's going on either…"

The pink haired woman noticed his dilemma.

"Okay, stay calm Naruto." she tried to soothe him, touching his arm lightly and guiding him towards the entrance of the village, never losing sight of the hunter-nin who was walking two steps behind the two young ninja in utter silence.

"It's just that … I didn't want it to happen … I could've stopped them, saved her …" a part of Naruto was aware that he was babbling, that the things he said most likely made no sense to his long-time friend, but the blonde still continued talking, his mind drifting away slowly.

He only shut his mouth when he saw Kakashi standing at the gate, waiting for them. The older man looked exactly like Naruto remembered him, not one day older than when he had last seen him. His one visible eye however looked clouded, tired, like he hadn't had a full night of sleep in a long time.

Their little team came to stand in front of his former teacher, an exhausted "Kakashi-sensei." escaping the blonde's lips when they shared a short look. Kakashi's grey eye shifted from looking at him to stare at the woman behind his two students, his facial expression betraying no emotion at all while his posture stiffened suddenly. That was when Naruto knew that Kakashi knew.

Without having to exchange any words the two elite ninja shared one simple glance, no motion betraying their feelings.

"Ah, you're alive. Figured." Kakashi's voice was low and the somber tone startled both Naruto and Sakura, "Fighting a battle and losing, having to see them die and survive through it to tell the tale … it's the hardest punishment of them all, isn't it?"

The kunoichi opposite him didn't reply, never loosing the calm façade she had worn since Naruto first met her. It was like she was a damn puppet, some lifeless soldier who had been brainwashed into doing whatever she was told by her superior. The thought irked Naruto and the only reason he didn't say anything about it was the fact that the guards were all looking at them with curious expressions. His new guardian drew more attention than he would have liked.

"Kakashi, I need to meet with the elders. Now."

This would be a long night.

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><p><strong>Glossary<strong>

_-san, -sama, -dono, -chan_ – Japanese honorifics. _-san_ is equally to "Mr." or "Ms."; _-sama_ refers to a person of (much) higher rank; _-dono_ is a title for a military leader and somewhere between the other two in respect; _-chan_ is a diminutive suffix usually used for young children and teenage girls

_Fukumen-san_ – _fukumen_ means mask, the adress can be translated as a polite "masked one"

_Karasu_ – crow

_Byakko, _Seiry_ū___ – White Tiger, Azure Dragon; two of the four symbols of Chinese constellations

_kami_ – deity in the Japanese Shinto belief (kami is both singular and plural)

_Jinchūriki_ – vessel of a tailed beast (_Bijū_)

_Washi_ – eagle

_seppuku_ – ritual Samurai-style suicide (also known as _harakiri_ outside of Japan)

_kunoichi_ – female ninja

_hai_ – yes, understood

_Godaime_, _Rokudaime_ - (5th, 6th; _go_ means five, _roku_ means six and _daime_ is used to count generations)

_Ky_ū_bi (no Yōko)_ – nine-tailed demon fox

_katana_ – traditional Japanese sword with a length of 60 cm (2 feet) or longer

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><p>This was originally planned as a longer story with a lot of politics and a few more OCs in it, but I never wrote another chapter and it remained an unfinished plot in my head. Did you find the story interesting? Would someone actually want me to continue it? ...anyway, I hope that you at least liked WashiSeiryū. There's a back-story to her, but it really didn't fit in here. Reviews are always welcome :)


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